


I Have A Favor To Ask You

by OnceAndFloral



Series: Faerie Gold [6]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Fae AU, also I don't usually write from the perspective of mr heere so sorry about that, brooke origin story!, but i'mma post it and see how you guys like it, i'm kind of iffy on this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-21 02:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12448104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndFloral/pseuds/OnceAndFloral
Summary: Mr. Heere thought he'd seen the last of his wife when she left a few years ago. Apparently not, because she's back, and with a certain special someone.





	I Have A Favor To Ask You

Mr. Heere wasn't a very perceptive man. He couldn't smell something burning in the kitchen, or feel the tension he sometimes created in conversation, or pick up on Jeremy's distress. He could, however, pick up on the window slamming open in the middle of the night, allowing a breeze to carry in a few leaves. 

He damn near well fell out of bed. He'd already been wide awake. That tended to happen on nights of the full moon. For various reasons.

He walked out to the window to close it and froze when he saw a familiar figure standing out on the front lawn, washed pale by the moonlight. Fuck. What was she doing back here? He pulled on a robe and stalked out of his room. It took all of Mr. Heere’s willpower to not sprint at full speed to the front door. No need to wake up Jeremy and just have the poor kid get overwhelmed with… 

“Veronica,” Mr. Heere said as he pulled open the door. His former wife blinked, as if he was surprised he still remembered her name.

“Paul,” She said slowly. “Nice to see you again.”

“Jeremy’s asleep right now.” That was a lie. Jeremy was probably staring out his window at the moon. He was just scared that if Jeremy saw his mother he’d go with her. Mr. Heere wasn’t sure if he could handle both of them living.

Truth be told, he couldn’t even handle one of them leaving.

“It’s actually best if he doesn’t see me.” Veronica bit her lip. “I came to talk to you, actually.”

“Really.” That was a bit of a surprise. He looked over Veronica’s shoulder. A girl who appeared to be Jeremy’s age sat on the middle of the lawn, tearing up grass. He frowned. “I’m guessing it has something to do with her.”

Veronica looked in between Mr. Heere and the girl nervously. “Yes. Keep your voice down, I don’t want her hearing this.”

“And that’s because…?”

“I need to ask you a favor.”

A beat. “A favor.”

“Can you take care of her? Something came up and it’s dangerous for her to be in the faerie world.”

Mr. Heere had to process that for a couple seconds. “So she’s your kid?”

“She’s my… friend’s.” Ah. A _friend_

“So she’s not yours?”

“Jeremy isn’t yours, yet you take care of him,” Veronica countered. Mr. Heere flinched.She was really cutting deep. “I’m sorry, Paul. You’re still his father, you just aren’t…” She shook her head. “Are you going to take care of her or not?”

“Veronica, I’m not really… the best parent since you left. I honestly shouldn’t even have Jeremy, let alone _another_ kid.”

She looked at him with silently pleading eyes. “Please. Just keep an eye on her, she can mostly take care of herself, I just need you to make sure nothing terrible happens.”

“I…” She looked desperate. Why did this matter so much to her? Veronica had said Brooke could take care of herself, so why did she need Mr. Heere? He sighed. “Fine. We have an extra room anyways.”

Veronica visibly relaxed. “Thank you so much.” She turned to the young girl sitting in the lawn. “Brooke. C’mere.”

The girl got up off the grass, jogging over to where Veronica and Mr. Heere stood at the front door. “Mhm?”

“This is Mr. Heere. He’s going to- he’s going to be taking care of you from now on.”

Brooke frowned. “But you and Mom-”

“You can’t stay with us anymore and you know why.” Veronica turned so she was fully facing towards Brooke. She placed her hands on Brooke’s shoulders. “I’m doing this because I love you. Besides, you’ll like it here. Jeremy’s a sweet kid. You’ll get along great.”

Brooke didn’t do other than nod carefully. Mr. Heere felt awkward, like he was intruding on a moment that was far too personal. He cleared his throat.

“I, uh… Can help you get settled in before the morning.”

Veronica blinked. “Right. And I should go before the moon sets.” She nodded to Mr. Heere and pat Brooke’s shoulder before turning. “Take good care of her.”

* * *

Morning light filtered through the kitchen window, bringing out the buttercup flowers dotted across Brooke’s skin. Mr. Heere had been keeping his distance from her since last night. He knew how faeries didn’t like to not have the choice to run when around people they didn’t trust. Jeremy and Veronica were certainly like that.

He was actually rather afraid of Jeremy’s reaction. This was all rather sudden, and Jeremy wasn’t exactly a fan of change, at least like this.

Soft footsteps echoed in from the hallway. Speak of the devil.

“Dad, I’m just gonna pick up some food and then go to Mi-” Jeremy froze mid sentence, coming eye to eye with Brooke. He blinked slowly. “Who’s that?”

“Jeremy, this is Brooke. She’s…” Your sister? Was that a proper phrase to use here? Mr. Heere wasn’t quite sure of the nature of the relationship between Veronica and Brooke’s mother. “Going to be staying with us for a while. Your mother dropped her off last night.”

“Mom was here?” Jeremy’s voice sounded shaky. Okay, Mr. Heere should not have mentioned Veronica.

“I thought you were asleep so-”

He stopped speaking as Brooke stood up from her seat at the kitchen table and walked over to Jeremy. She leaned in close, mumbling something so softly Mr. Heere couldn’t hear it. Whatever it had been, it was the right thing, because the pained look melted off Jeremy’s face. 

“Oh.”

Brooke nodded. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yea, I’ll-I’ll be fine.” Jeremy took a shaky breath. “I’d love to like, learn more about the stranger that’s going to be staying in our house for an indefinite period of time, but I already told Michael I was coming over so-”

Brooke smiled and shrugged. “I’ll just go see if there’s something I want to do out in the town.”

Jeremy nodded, barely even glancing at his father as he grabbed a package of snack cookies and glided out to the front door.

Mr. Heere felt… out of place. Wholly and entirely. He wasn’t entirely sure how much of that exchange between Brooke and Jeremy, but the fact that a complete stranger already appeared to have a better bond with his son was. Troubling. He tried to reassure himself and say it was just some fae magic, and that may have been part of it, but that it couldn't have been all of it. 

He was never going to understand faeries, or his son. Really, instead of moping about he should be trying harder. Getting out of the house instead of working at home. Actually wearing pants.

He sighed. Maybe some day that dream might become real, but that wasn’t that day. Today Mr. Heere was going to stay home.

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm not sure if this is going to be a good idea for the au, so I'll delete it if you guys think it's a bad idea (hint hint give me feedback)  
> If you guys do end up liking this, I may or may not have some stuff for Jeremy and Brooke's siblinghood in this au.
> 
> catch me on tumblr as squip-grandma


End file.
